Any strategies/hints for finding the gavestones not yet photographed?

J

JButlerEagle

started a topic
28 days ago

There are two cemeteries near me that are "mostly" done. Every section has been photographed at some point in the past 5 years. Are there any secrets to finding the newer graves in the cemetery? Or locating older graves that got missed the first round?

Best Answer

d

dswright
said
26 days ago

1. First ask BG to generate an Excel file of the cemetery so you can sort by names and dates. They may not need to give you everything in the data base of BG but should have names, and dates, so it would easier to find individual graves to check.

2. If there is a cemetery office, ask them if you can use their database or records file, to find the most recent graves. They probably won't give you a printed copy, but they might agree to let you check the files, against the BG index. If the cemetery is a very large one, try to talk with them about the efficiently of using software such as excell to compare the two lists. It may point out a few errors/missing records in their own files as well, so convince them that it is in their interest as well.

3. You may have to also check with local funeral homes, but they are no likely to share names with you as they have a duty to protect and serve the family, not the public.

4. You could create a special group project to check the initial list, by printing off copies of the BG files and have teams go row-to-row, and checking the names, and creating a separate list of the graves not on the list.

Good luck - I did this with the local church cemetery nearest my home, and also checked it against what someone else had placed in Find-a-Grave, and with some discussion with neighbors who a church members was able to clear up some mistranscriptions. Only a few hundred records, but it took some time and careful attention to the details.

AYoung

said
26 days ago

Living in Utah with most of our cemeteries photographed we run into this problem frequently. I look at the cemetery map with the pins and look for sections in the cemetery that may have been missed. Even if some are re-photographed, these can be merged in as duplicates at a later date.

d

dswright

said
26 days ago

Answer

1. First ask BG to generate an Excel file of the cemetery so you can sort by names and dates. They may not need to give you everything in the data base of BG but should have names, and dates, so it would easier to find individual graves to check.

2. If there is a cemetery office, ask them if you can use their database or records file, to find the most recent graves. They probably won't give you a printed copy, but they might agree to let you check the files, against the BG index. If the cemetery is a very large one, try to talk with them about the efficiently of using software such as excell to compare the two lists. It may point out a few errors/missing records in their own files as well, so convince them that it is in their interest as well.

3. You may have to also check with local funeral homes, but they are no likely to share names with you as they have a duty to protect and serve the family, not the public.

4. You could create a special group project to check the initial list, by printing off copies of the BG files and have teams go row-to-row, and checking the names, and creating a separate list of the graves not on the list.

Good luck - I did this with the local church cemetery nearest my home, and also checked it against what someone else had placed in Find-a-Grave, and with some discussion with neighbors who a church members was able to clear up some mistranscriptions. Only a few hundred records, but it took some time and careful attention to the details.